To understand how web access from a portable tablet appliance changes the way people use the Internet, MediaOne gave families pen-based tablet computers with a wireless connection to our high-speed data network. We used ethnographic and usability methods to understand how tablets would be integrated into household activities and to define user requirements for such devices. Participants viewed the tablet as conceptually different from a PC. The tablet enabled a high degree of multitasking with household activities, yet flaws in form and function affected use. Results suggest that correctly designed portable Internet appliances will fill a special role in peoples' daily lives, particularly if these devices share information with each other. They will allow spontaneous access to information and communication anywhere.

The structures in which users store their files facilitate retrieval by enabling users to deduce a file's contents from its place in the organization. This study examined structures created by UNIX users to organize their files within a hierarchical directory scheme, and examined the relation between structure and command usage. Users' difficulties in managing the complexity of a hierarchical structure limited the amount of information about files that these structures contained. Tree complexity increased in a negatively accelerating function with the number of files. Users who grouped their files into few directories arranged in shallow trees could navigate through the tree easily, but they sacrificed information: directory names were less specific, and users made more command errors. More sophisticated users created deeper trees. They were able to manage more files but also made extensive use of navigation aids.

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The structures in which users store their files facilitate retrieval by enabling users to dedute a file's contents from its place in the organization.This study examined structures created by UNIX* users to organize their files within a hierarchical directory scheme, and examined the relation between structure and command usage.Users" difficulties in managing the complexity of a hierarchical structure limited the amount of information about files that these structures contained.Tree complexity increased in a negatively accelerating function with the number of files. Users who grouped their files into few directories arranged in shallow trees could navigate through the tree easily, but they sacrificed information: directory names were less specific, and users made more command errors.More sophisticated users created deeper trees.They were able to manage more files but also made extensive use of navigation aids.~: UNIX is a trademark of Bell Laboratories.